The Flash May Finally Have Three Frontrunners For Director

Despite being announced as part of the original DC Extended Universe slate, The Flash has had a tough time (ironically) moving forward. The Scarlet Speedster's movie lost two directors within a year, and as of January was going through a page one rewrite. Pushing through these setbacks, it appears that Warner Bros is starting to make some progress with getting it back up and running (pun intended), as Back to the Future's Robert Zemeckis, Kingsman: The Secret Service's Matthew Vaughn and Evil Dead's Sam Raimi are reportedly the new frontrunners to direct.

According to THR, Robert Zemeckis, Matthew Vaughn and Sam Raimi are on the shortlist to get The Flash directing gig, although official offers haven't been delivered to any of them yet. Zemeckis appears to be leading the charge for the job among the trio, and while his Steve Carell-led movie The Women of Marwen could cause scheduling conflicts, it's also possible that Warner Bros may set aside their goal of shooting The Flash before the year is finished to wait for him. Then there's Vaughn, who is keen on making a third Kingsman movie, so if 20th Century Fox decides to move forward with that project, it may prevent him from working on The Flash. Sam Raimi doesn't have any movies coming up, but he is an executive producer on the Ash vs. Evil Dead TV series.

Matthew Vaughn and Sam Raimi both have previous superhero movie experience; Vaughn through X-Men: First Class and the Kick-Ass movies, and Raimi through the Spider-Man trilogy. If Robert Zemeckis became The Flash's director, this would be his first foray into the genre, although he's more than cemented his filmmaking legacy through projects like the Back to the Future trilogy, Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and more. Zemeckis was rumored to be up for The Flash directing job last month, and while that was later debunked, now it appears that his name is indeed being tossed around. It's also worth noting that Warner Bros was reportedly looking at Vaughn to direct Man of Steel 2 back in March.

Flash, a.k.a. Barry Allen, cameoed last year in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, and he'll make his full debut this November in Justice League. While The Flash sorts itself out behind the scenes, Ezra Miller is preparing to reprise Credence Barebone in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2, and presumably he'd don the speedy superhero's costume once that Wizarding World tale is finished filming. The Flash will also include Kiersey Clemons as Iris West and Billy Crudup as Henry Allen.

The Flash was originally supposed to race into theaters in March 2018, but now it remains unscheduled. While we wait for more updates on the Scarlet Speedster's cinematic future, check out what other DC movies are currently in development.